The parents of a six-year-old girl who died from measles have said ‘the measles wasn’t that bad’ as cases in the US surge past 300. The parents have also stood by their decision to not vaccinate their child
The parents of a six year old girl who tragically died from measles have defended their choice not to vaccinate their child.
Measles, a potentially deadly disease, can be effectively prevented with vaccinations. Despite this, cases in West Texas continue to rise two months after the initial outbreak, and local health officials predict the virus will continue to spread for several more months.
As of Friday, the Texas outbreak had escalated to 309 cases and one death related to measles, while New Mexico reported 42 cases and one measles-related fatality. Across both states, forty-two individuals have been hospitalised.
The outbreak in Texas, which has predominantly affected under-vaccinated Mennonite communities, could persist for a year based on research into previous measles outbreaks within Amish communities in the U.S..
These studies indicated that outbreaks lasted between six to seven months, according to Katherine Wells, director of the public health department in Lubbock, Texas. Most patients from the current outbreak have been treated in Lubbock’s hospitals, and the public health department is heavily involved in managing the situation, reports the Mirror US.
The parents of the deceased child made an appearance in a video released by Children’s Health Defence, an anti-vaccine advocacy group formerly chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Speaking at times through a translation as they spoke a dialect of German, the parents recounted how their child exhibited classic symptoms. The fever persisted, and she was rushed to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia.
She was then transferred to the ICU, where she was placed on a ventilator before ultimately passing away.
The parents’ other four children had milder cases of measles, which they attribute to the untested treatments from Veritas Wellness, a holistic clinic in Lubbock, Texas, where they were treated by Dr. Ben Edwards.
When asked by the anti-vaccine group’s interviewer if they still hold the same views on the MMR vaccine, they responded: “Absolutely not take the MMR [vaccine]. The measles wasn’t that bad. [The other children] got over it pretty quickly. And Dr. Edwards was there for us.”
The outbreak spans 14 Texas counties, two New Mexico counties, and four probable cases in Oklahoma, where health officials stated that the first two cases were “associated” with the West Texas and New Mexico outbreaks.
Measles is one of the world’s most contagious diseases, and its mode of transmission makes it particularly challenging to contain. Outbreaks can have multiple peaks, according to Justin Lessler, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health.
